As an example of a branch connector which branches wiring, a joint connector which joins together connector housings of the same structure through plural stages such that they are stacked has been proposed.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a front surface 101a of a connector housing 101 has front engaging members 102, rear engaging members 103, front lock members 104 and front surface rear lock members 105. On the other hand, a back face 101b has front engaging member insertion holes 106 in which front engaging members 102 are to be inserted, rear engaging member insertion holes 107 in which rear engaging members 103 are to be inserted and back face rear lock members 108 engaging with the front surface rear lock members 105.
When joining the both connector housings 101, 101 together, as shown in FIG. 1, the back face 101b of a connector housing 101 is placed so as to oppose the front surface 101a of the other connector housing arid overlaid thereon. Then, the connector housings 101, 101 in the temporary setting condition before joining are placed between an upper connector joining member 101 and a lower connector joining member 110 as shown in FIG. 2 and joined together by pressing from above.
The temporary setting condition before the joining means that as shown in FIG. 2, the front lock member 104 makes contact with the temporary engaging face 112 formed below the front lock member engaging hole 111 in which the front lock member 104 is to be inserted and engaged with and in a rear portion of the connector housings, as shown in FIG. 3, a connector temporary engaging face 108a of a back face rear lock member 108 makes contact with a connector temporary engaging face 105a formed on the front surface rear lock member 105.
If both the connector housings 101, 101 are tried to be joined together from this temporary setting condition, the front engaging member 102 is inserted into the front engaging member insertion hole 106 and at the same time, the rear engaging member 103 is inserted into the rear engaging member insertion hole 107, so that both the connector housings 101, 101 are positioned without being loosened in the back and forth direction and in the vertical direction.
In a front portion of this connector housing 101, the front lock member 104 is inserted into and engaged with the front lock member engaging hole 111 so that the housing front portion is locked. In the rear portion thereof, pawls of the front surface rear lock member 105 and the back face rear lock member 108 engage with each other so that the housing rear portion is locked. Consequently, both the connector housings 101, 101 are joined together in a joining direction so that they are not separated from each other and maintained in that condition.
Then, a height, at a contact position between the joined connector housings in the front lock portion (contact portion between the front lock member 104 and the temporary engaging face 112) is different from the height at the contact position in the rear lock portion (contact portion between the connector temporary engaging faces 105a and 105a of the front surface rear lock member 105 and the back face rear lock member 108). Thus, the connector housing 101 overlaid on the lower connector housing is inclined forward as shown in FIG. 2.
For this reason, if both the connector housings 101, 101 are tried to be joined together, likely prying action occurs at a joined portion due to unequal pressing force or a joined portion is damaged or the joining condition becomes incomplete.
In the connector housing 101, as shown in FIG. 4, a tab insertion hole 114 for introducing a tab 113 of a terminal into a terminal accommodating chamber 115 is formed in the back face 101b. When the connector housings are joined, a front tip of the tab 113 makes contact with an opening peripheral portion 114a of the tab insertion hole 114 so that a load is applied on the tab 113. If this load is too large, a front end stress of the tab 113 can not be dispersed so that the tab may be bent as shown by dotted line in the same Figure. Consequently, the tab cannot be connected to a terminal accommodated in the overlaid connector housing 101.
Accordingly, the present invention has been proposed to solve the above described problem and an object of the invention is to provide a joint connector capable of maintaining connector housings in parallel to each other without any joining failure in a temporary setting condition before the connector housings are joined together, and preventing any abnormal load from being applied to the tab.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a joint connector for joining together connector housings of the same structure each accommodating a plurality of terminals in its terminal accommodating chamber through plural stages, such that when the side of the terminal accommodating chamber is assumed to be a front surface while an opposite side thereof is assumed to be a back face, the back face is overlaid on the front surface.
In this connector housing, a front engaging member is formed near the front of the front surface and a joining protrusion is formed on this front engaging member. A first rear lock member is formed near the rear of the front surface and a first connector temporary engaging face having a tapered face is formed on this first rear lock member. Further, a front engaging member insertion hole in which a front engaging member is to be inserted is formed near the front of the back face and a joining protrusion fitting hole to which the joining protrusion is fit is formed in this front engaging member insertion hole. A second rear lock member to engage with the first rear lock member is formed near the rear of the back face and a second connector temporary engaging face having a tapered face is formed on the second rear lock member.
In the temporary setting condition before the connector housings are joined together, the joining protrusion makes contact with an opening peripheral portion of the joining protrusion fitting hole and at the same time, the first connector temporary engaging face and the second connector temporary engaging face make contact with each other, so that the respective connector housings are maintained in a predetermined attitude.
In the joint connector of the present invention, in the temporary setting condition before the connector housings are joined together, distances between the up and down connector housings in the front and rear portions are specified. Consequently, the joined connector housings keep the predetermined attitude. Therefore, in the temporary setting condition before the connector housings are joined, the attitude can be reproduced easily and maintained in a stabilized condition. Therefore, if the connector housings are tried to be joined together from this predetermined attitude, the front engaging member is inserted smoothly into the front engaging member insertion hole and the rear engaging member is also inserted into the rear engaging member insertion hole without any prying action. As a result, the both connector housings are joined together without any inclination.